


Midnight Discussion

by Szarka



Category: Miss Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Discussion of Mental Health, Discussions of Feelings, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01 Finale, Yuletide 2018, discussion of trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 11:48:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16953441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Szarka/pseuds/Szarka
Summary: After all that happened in the Season 1 finale, Shibata and Wato talk.Written for the 2018 Yuletide, to the prompt:"I'm especially interested in Wato or the younger policeman, and would love any story which either expands on what we see in the series or looks at the aftermath. (Especially the emotional aftermath.)"





	Midnight Discussion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rabidsamfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabidsamfan/gifts).



> This has been written for the 2018 Yuletide, to the prompt: 
> 
> "I'm especially interested in Wato or the younger policeman, and would love any story which either expands on what we see in the series or looks at the aftermath. (Especially the emotional aftermath.) If you know Japanese culture, please feel free to delve deeply into it. While I loved this series, I'm an American and I am positive I missed a lot of the nuances. I did find all of the characters in the tag set interesting, so you don't have to stick to these two."
> 
> Well, I'm afraid that I am not versed in Japanese culture AT ALL. In fact, I would almost wager that you know more about it than I do. The two things I brought in here, and I do hope it works, is that a) they are super polite, and b) the stigma against mental illness in Japan is really bad.
> 
> I don't think that I have to say much about the plot, I tried to write something like what you asked. It was a good prompt, thank you for it. I love Wato and Shibata (and all the other characters), too, so I was lucky to get this story. I hope that you will find what you were looking for, and that you will generally enjoy whatever it is you are celebrating around now. Happy Holidays, and a happy New Year! <3

The night was clear and cool above Tokyo, the city that had only recently narrowly escaped a disaster twice without anyone even knowing about it. It was calm, the 'normal' inhabitants all had gone home for the evening hours ago. There were still people on the streets, of course there were, wandering around between the few places that kept open 24 hours a day. Nobody payed any attention to the young man wearing a black jacket walking down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. He disappeared into one of the fast-food restaurants, and the street looked just the same without him, as if his existence meant nothing to Tokyo.

There were surprisingly many people in the restaurant, despite of the late hour. Most of them working the night shift, it would seem judging by their uniforms, but also some wearing comfortable, baggy clothes and looking as if they'd be in bed, had the desperation caused by insomnia not driven them out. What was causing the insomnia, Tatsuya Shibata could only guess, had he wanted to know. But he didn't want to know. There were enough things keeping _him_ awake, he did not need strangers' problems on top of them.

The young woman he was meeting was sitting in the far corner. Her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying only recently, but she was now quiet, and staring at the table with a frozen expression. Shibata steeled himself. He'd been working as a police officer for years now, he spoke to emotionally perturbed people every day. He knew how to handle them. He knew how to handle this.

Except of course that those people he met during his job weren't part of his personal life. Wato Tachibana wasn't exactly his friend, but she came as close to it as any of his work colleagues did.

"Good evening.", bowed Shibata. Wato didn't seem to notice him for a long moment, than looked up. He bowed again, just to be sure.

Wato bowed back. "Good evening. Sit down." Her voice was almost toneless.

Shibata sat, than waited for the young woman to start talking.

"She's back.", said Wato after a period of silence and not looking in Shibata's direction.

"I know.", said Shibata, him not looking in Wato's direction, either.

"You helped her fake her death." It wasn't a question, Wato had already known when she'd called him earlier. It had been the first and only time he'd witnessed her lose her temper.

"Why."

"She asked us to."

"And since when do you do what Sherlock asks?"

"Nobody else knew what to do."

Wato made some sound that probably could be interpreted as a very bitter laugh. She was far beyond the breaking point, beyond caring about being considerate or polite.

"Sherlock didn't know either. She never does, didn't you know that?"

"Nothing I thought I knew about Sherlock is true any more."

Wato made that sound again. It was the same sound, but somehow, this time, it reminded Shibata more of a sob than of a laugh.

"She is good in fooling people."

"She did it to save Tokyo."

"Don't let her fool _you_."

They were briefly interrupted by a waitress who brought them some tea. Only when she left spoke Shibata again.

"How are you doing?"

Wato looked up at him with her red eyes and her dead expression.

"Tired. I don't even care any more."

"Is that why you left the house even when everybody told you not to?"

Right after Wato's phone call, he'd received an other one from Sherlock, telling him off in the most rude way possible for not having made her friend stay indoors. And right after that, one from Mrs. Hatano, who was the only one of the three of them to actually remember her manners, and politely tried to explain to Shibata what was going on over there.

The whole thing still wasn't quite clear, but at least Shibata now had a general idea of Sherlock freaking out Wato by suddenly turning up still alive and ordering her to go back to the house with her at once. Some yelling followed, until Wato'd finally understood that Inspector Reimon and Shibata had helped Sherlock fake her death and not told her, so she immediately called both of them to tell them just what exactly she was thinking of this. Reimon's phone had been switched off, because he'd wanted to take an evening off to spend it with his wife, so that only left Shibata. Wato had shouted at him for ten minutes straight, than ended the phone call by grabbing her still packed suitcase and storming out of the house, which had been directly against Sherlock's orders, who was worried about the remaining members of Moriwaki's followers going after Wato.

Once he'd peeled this information out from underneath the apologies and some only distantly related anecdotes, followed by even more apologies for derailing the conversation, offered by Mrs Hatano, Shibata had given up on his well-deserved rest and texted Wato. A few messages later, they had agreed on the little fast-food restaurant they were currently sitting in.

"They can't tell me what to do.", said Wato.

Of course. Shibata kicked himself mentally.

"I'm sorry.", said he.

"For what?", Wato's voice finally didn't sound toneless, but the emotion in it was anger. "Do not pity me! I didn't survive all of this to be pitied!"

"I'm sorry.", repeated Shibata. "I do not know how to deal with this situation."

"Nobody does.", said Wato. "Dr. Irikawa was the only one who knew that, and she was evil and is now dead. Good for her. I am happy she fell."

Tears started to gather in her eyes, but she angrily blinked them away.

"Wato.", said Shibata. "It is okay to be upset about Moriwaki not being the person you thought she was."

"It wasn't just her.", said Wato. "Everyone has been hiding things from me. Sherlock, Moriya Tooru..." Her voice sounded just a little different when she mentioned her dead boyfriend, but she didn't let her grief actually show. "Even you and Inspector Reimon."

A very awkward silence followed. Shibata wondered whether or not he should apologize again, but simply bowing to her wouldn't have been enough, and he didn't want to beg for her forgiveness, even though it might have been the right thing to do. He had done what he'd thought was best, so had Inspector Reimon, and he knew that both of them would do the same things again in a heartbeat, were they to relive the whole nightmare.

It was a strange conversation any ways. Wato herself kept completely disrespecting all social norms. After all that she'd been through, it was more than understandable that she'd snapped, but seeing the young woman like this… It was always Sherlock who didn't care about her manners, and Wato who was extra polite to compensate for her friend's behavior.

"But how could she!", exclaimed Wato in the end. "She was a certified medical professional, it was her job to help people! And she even did, before it all. Talking to her really helped me, and I know that it helped Moriya, too. Why did she need to betray her profession like this?"

Shibata remained quiet. To this question, there were no answers.

"And Sherlock!", continued Wato. "I could kill Sherlock with my two hands for what she's done, and she would deserve it. First she sho… First she shot him, and she left me all alone. And than she jumped off the roof, and died, and didn't even think a moment about leaving me behind, and she has _no right_ to do that, she..."  


She had tears in her eyes again.

"She made me quit my job.", said Shibata, remembering the feeling of writing his resignation letter. He may have cried a little while doing it. Nobody had been around to see him, so who could tell?

" When she took my gun. She knew perfectly well what penalties I would have to face. And than she told me  in my face that she  really did know , and  she'd just thought that I would never quit, no matter how hard that she'd make it for me."  


H e looked at his hands holding the tea cup, as if it were something worth observing.

"I… Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to work for the police. I worked hard to get there. And I am good. I know that I am good, and very proud to be part of one of the best police forces in the world. I like working with Inspector Reimon."

"I like the Inspector, too.", said Wato quietly.

"He looks out for me, even though he doesn't need to. He looks out for everyone. Even Sherlock."

Shibata finally lifted the cup and drank a sip. The tea was warm and smelled delicious.

" And I am always angry about that, because she has no business meddling with our cases, and the Inspector trusts her more than he trusts our own people. The rules are there for a reason.  But Sherlock keeps ignoring them all the time. She doesn't even wear gloves at the crime scenes! She steals evidence! She breaks into people's homes! She..."  


He shook his head.

"But she does solve the cases.  That is the only reason I support her, because she solves the cases."  


" She is a nightmare to live with, too.", said Wato.

"Why do you do it, than?"

"Because it's free. Her brother and Mrs Hatano let me live there for free."

That was... generous. And a little weird. While Sherlock and weird had always gone hand in hand, so Shibata shouldn't be surprised about finding out one more strange thing about her and the people she surrounded herself with.

"Why?"

"Because Sherlock is mentally ill and they don't trust her to be alone. And since she hasn't got any friends..."

" Oh.",  muttered Shibata, slightly  embarrassed by the subject and how open Wato was about it. "I never thought about that."  


Because mental illness was  _not_ something you just discuss ed , especially not if you were talking about a  colleague who  deserved to be respected.

" Are you going to stay there?",  changed Shibata  the subject .

"I don't know.", said Wato. "I just don't know. I never want to see Sherlock again, but..."

"But you also do not want to live without her."

She looked at him in surprise. Shibata shrugged.

" I know that neither of you wants to admit it, but you have been  inseparable since you first moved in  together . And… I think that you are good for her."  


"Really?"

" Yes, she has been much less insupportable recently."  


"She is still a murderer."

There was a moment of silence while Shibata thought about whether or not to tell her the whole truth. He decided that she deserved to know.

"According to the autopsy… Moryia Tooru didn't die of the gun shot. He had the virus, and what we saw was that he collapsed and lost his conscience. Nobody dared to go near him, so we all assumed that he died from the gun shot, but he didn't. Sherlock actually hit his shoulder."

"Than why didn't she tell us?!"

He had been asking himself the same question ever since they'd received the autopsy report. Over and over and over again. _Why hadn't Sherlock told them the truth?_

"Because she was under shock, probably? So were you. I don't know, maybe she thought too that she'd killed him."

"She would have. She wanted to."

"Sherlock would have done whatever needed to be done to stop him from spreading the virus. She always does whatever she thinks she has to do to finish her job."

Shibata shook his head.

"Why am I even defending Sherlock now?"

"You care about justice and think that I am being unjust to her."

"No, it's not that… You have every right to be angry…."

"What are _you_ going to do?", interrupted Wato him.

"Me?", asked Shibata, surprised by the change of topic. "I am back with the police. Inspector Reimon kept my resignation letter and only reported that I was feeling unwell and had to go home. So I still have my job. I am of course in a lot of trouble because of Sherlock taking my gun. But it could be worse. The Inspector managed to keep this case off the main record, because of the virus and Moriwaki's brainwashing technique, he convinced our superiors to classify it as secret. So the penalties I'll have to face will be less severe, and you two will not be in any trouble because of that all."

There were silent for a bit longer. Finally, Shibata decided to bring op the concerns Sherlock had been yelling at him about.

"Do you know what happened to the other victims in Moriwaki's group?"

Wato shook her head.

"I never went back to the Dock."

"We did send a division to the address you gave us, and there was nobody there."

"Maybe her death has set them free, too."

"It would make sense, after all, she used the same method on them as she did on you."

Wato traced absentmindedly the top of her teacup with her finger.

"But I was also under a great level of emotional stress. That might have helped me to free myself."

"The ones we stopped before were under great emotional stress, too. _They_ never broke free."

"Maybe they didn't want to." Wato sighed. "I really should have studied more psychology at the university than I did. I only took the required classes, and thought that I wouldn't need to know anything more, I was so _stupid_!

Anyway, I know that hypnosis doesn't work like everybody thinks because of the movies. You know. Where they completely mind-control people? In reality, it is more like giving them a strong suggestion. You can't get someone to do something that they don't really want to."

"That's why you couldn't kill Sherlock."

"Exactly. I have read Moriwaki's paper. Her method is very close to hypnosis. The point is not to make you do something that you don't want to, but to convince you that you want to do it. Moryia only almost released the virus because he cared so much about the people he met in the Middle East, and he was convinced that he'd help them that way."

"So you are saying that the others still believe that what they were doing is right?"

"It is possible." Wato sighed. "I didn't talk too much with them. Dr. Irikawa was with me most of the time I was there. And the rest of the time, they didn't ask any questions, because they knew that it would hurt me. It is..." She waved her hand. "A nice community, actually. Most of what they do is being nice to one another and do nice things that make you feel good. Building things, making art, working a garden. You know. And they are really understanding if you need to be alone or cry or something like that. You actually want to be there, because it is so much better than anywhere else."

A place where people understood what you've been through. That really did sound nice, especially since they were talking about mental illness, something that one really had to hide as well as possible in the outside world.

"Sherlock is worried about them being angry about Moriwaki and coming after you."

Wato blinked.

"Huh? Sherlock?"

"She called me after you left. She was really upset."

"That is her problem."

"Mrs Hatano is worried about you, too."

"Tell her that I can look after myself."

"I did. I think that is the reason why they haven't come after you yet."

Wato looked as if she was about to shut down again, so Shibata left the subject and jumped to the first thing that came to his mind.

"You should start working in the medical field again."

"Huh?", asked Wato, confused.

"I've known you long enough, and I've seen you at work. You love medicine, and I think that you are really good at it. You could do much good if you were to work in your own field again, and I think that you would be much happier. Please consider."

"I will. It just isn't easy after everything what happened."

"You still could continue your studies and become a forensic doctor. Than come and work with us. I would trust you a great deal more to do that work well than I trust Sherlock."

Wato smiled for the first time. A small, sad, but honest smile.

"Me too."

"Where are you going to go this night?"

"I've rented a hotel room. I do not want to go home."

"Would you let me accompany you to the hotel?", proposed Shibata. "Just to be sure that you are safe."

"Of course." Wato sighed, than folded her arms on the desk and laid her head on top of them. "But not just yet, ok?"

They stayed for around an hour more. First they were just silent, but after a while Wato made a comment about something that Sherlock'd done when they'd been on a case, and Shibata replied with a story about Inspector Reimon, and soon they were talking like work colleagues do during their lunch break. Shibata felt a strong sense of relief, in part because it was good to talk to someone who was close to being a friend, but also because he was happy to see that Wato was feeling better. She even smiled a few times.

When it became time to go, they left side by side, in silence once more. This time, their silence was much more relaxed than it had been before. Shibata was already thinking of his own bed, and that he should be getting back soon, because he still had work to do the next day. Despite the fact that it was a weekend, he needed to write down that rapport for Inspector Reimon as soon as possible, and there was still a lot of letters left to write if he wanted to apologize properly for losing his gun. He was of course not allowed to talk about any details of _how_ that had happened, so it would be a challenge. But not impossible.

Wato gently poked his side with her elbow, pulling him back to reality.

"Huh?", asked Shibata.

"That man behind us.", whispered Wato. "He's been following us since we left the restaurant."

Shibata was experienced enough not to turn around. Instead, he looked at their reflection in a nearby window, and really, there _was_ a man following them. And now that he was paying attention…

"I think that I've seen that woman over there before…. Wait, hasn't she been in the restaurant? Sitting some tables away from us."

Wato looked, and made a small noise of surprise.

"That is Aina."

"Who?"

"She was at the Dock."

Shibata felt his heart beat a little faster, but remained perfectly calm. He was trained for this.

"Let's turn here."

He led them in a side street. It wasn't as well lit as the main one, and there weren't any people on it. The two detectives sped up a little their pace, just enough for it to stay not noticeable. They turned a corner. Another street, still not as big as the first one, but there were at least some people on it. Shibata looked at the reflection in a window, and spotted the woman Wato had called Aina. The next street was again more narrow and deserted, but it led them back to the main street they had started on. The two strangers were still following them.

"Those three people.", pointed Wato at a small group standing halfway in the shadows, talking. They looked like three friends who'd gone out for the evening and were now all a little tired, and a little drunk, and were now laughing together before they all would go home.

"You know them, too?", asked Shibata.

Wato nodded.

"I hate Sherlock.", whispered the young woman.

"You are thinking think that she was right, too?"

"Yes."

Wasn't that nice. Just what he had needed for that night: Shibata was off-duty, therefore unarmed, out on a dark street with a very clever and resourceful, but untrained civilian he was supposed to protect from a group of possibly brainwashed but definitely dangerous people who were out to avenge the death of their leader. Also, if something happened to Wato, it was not only he who would never be able to forgive himself, but Sherlock would most certainly rip his liver out. Or perhaps not. She would find some very slow, very painful and very effective way to torture him to death.

"How safe do you think is your hotel?"

Wato shook her head.

"Not very safe. It is a very cheap hotel."

Shibata found his thoughts moving in the fast, efficient way they did when he was working a case, looking at the problem from every angle.

"If we call the police, than there will be very much explanation to do, because there isn't anything in the database about Moriwaki. I might get in trouble for bringing it up. But I do not want you to stay alone in that hotel room. So you can either come home with me, or we can call a taxi and both go back to your home."

"What about my things?"

"I can come back for them tomorrow, when it is light."

Wato thought about it. Shibata had to admit that she had stayed remarkably calm under the circumstances.

"If I come home with you, than they will know where you live."

"Than I should call a taxi."

Said taxi was there withing ten minutes, but it still seemed like an eternity to Shibata. They tried to fool their followers into thinking that they were standing still for no real reason by making a big show out of picking out their phones and starting to show each other their photos. It turned out that Wato liked taking pictures of beautiful plants and buildings, and also her coffee. She had a lot of coffee pictures.

Not that any of them actually concentrated on the photos, they were both too busy scanning their followers from the corner of their eyes.

They spent the taxi ride texting Sherlock and Mrs Hatano, and, just to be sure, Inspector Reimon, keeping them up to date. Or Wato texted them, while Shibata was watching the road trying to see other cars that were following them. As far as he could tell, there weren't any.

They still made the taxi driver take a detour. Just to be sure that they lost them.

Than again, the people they were running from knew of course where Wato lived.

When Sherlock opened the door, she was wearing her at-home clothes, not the ones she slept in. She looked as if she hadn't been to bed yet, and wasn't planning on going anytime soon. It was obvious how worried she was from the fact that she didn't tell Wato off for leaving the house alone at night.

"Moriwaki's organization stays strong, even after her death.", said she as a form of greeting.

"I know.", nodded Shibata. "Inspector Reimon and I can take them down, but we will need time, and you two are not safe before we do. I will stay here for tonight, but tomorrow, you should both leave the city. Go take a holiday in the mountains, I'll call you when we're done."

The two women looked at each other, than nodded.

"You should get some rest.", said Wato to Sherlock, obviously not really expecting any kind of response. "I'll go and look through Moriwaki's thesis once more, and than prepare your luggage."

To both her her and Shibata's surprise, the detective nodded, than turned around and marched off to her room.

And with that, a new adventure had started.

**Author's Note:**

> About the bit about Sherlock being mentally ill: She is autistic, and you will not convince me otherwise, and autism is of course not a mental illness. But I am also pretty certain that she's also got something else, I just don't know, what exactly.


End file.
